| Lilly Ko, GGU Law '99, is a policy attorney for the California Department of Social Services. She enjoys this work because her practice touches almost every area of the law. She receives varied and interesting questions from clients relating to the administration of Welfare Programs for which she provides legal advice.Lilly has a B.A. degree from the University of California at San Diego and lives in the Sacramento area with her husband and her son.About Lilly's experience in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic:
The Clinic provided me with practical legal training I did not receive in the classroom. I was able to interact with clients, draft pleadings and research issues for specific cases. In essence, my experience in WERC enabled me to experience firsthand what an attorney does day to day. |  |
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| Yaromil Velez Ralph, GGU Law '07, works as a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board's Oakland office. She investigates and prosecutes violations of the National Labor Relations Act by employers, unions and individuals in central and northern California and Reno, Nevada. Yaro, a native Spanish speaker, was raised in Puerto Rico, and now lives in San Francisco with her husband Christopher Ralph and her son, Samuel Clemente Ralph, born in January 2009.Yaro has a B.A. in Politics with a certificate in Latin American Studies from Princeton University. Before attending GGU, she worked for nine years as a network news journalist for NBC and ABC News in Washington D.C. and New York City.About Yaro's experience in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic:
Without a doubt, the most enriching experience of my legal education was the year and a half I spent as a clinic student and then a teaching assistant with the Women's Employment Rights Clinic. The breadth of cases and the interaction with clients equipped me with tools I use everyday in my job. My clinic experience was one of the primary reasons my employer hired me for my position. | |
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| Nira Geevargis, WERC graduate fellow 2005-2007, is a Staff Attorney at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco. She focuses on immigration issues and supervises the Tuesday Night Legal Services Clinic. Through her immigration work, she advocates on behalf of undocumented immigrants. The Legal Services Clinic provides pro bono services to clients on legal matters including eviction, debt collection, school expulsion and overpayment of public benefits.Nira graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2004 in the Public Interest Law and Policy Program and received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley. During law school, she was a constitutional law teaching fellow and also taught law to junior high students in Brooklyn and downtown Los Angeles. Prior to law school, she was a Senate Fellow for California State Senator Hilda Solis, the recently appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor. Nira received a Rotary Scholarship to study in Spain, and speaks Spanish, Assyrian and Farsi.About Nira's experience in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic:
As attorneys, we make sacrifices when we decide to pursue a career in public interest law, but I have always felt that it was the right decision for me. I knew that I wanted to pursue a legal career helping people, and the Women's Employment Rights Clinic (WERC) Clinic was the perfect place for me to begin that endeavor. At WERC, I advised low-wage workers in employment matters. Through WERC, I not only learned the fundamentals of employment law, but also honed my client-management skills and learned how to effectively supervise Clinic students. I enjoyed watching our students grow to become successful advocates for their clients. The Clinic professors are leaders in their field, and I took every opportunity to learn from them. | |
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| Edna Garcia Earley, GGU Law '98 is a staff attorney with the California Labor Commissioner's Office in Los Angeles. She took this position after participating in WERC as a student and serving as the Graduate Law Fellow in 1998-1999. As an attorney for the Labor Commissioner, Edna has successfully conducted over 70 bench trials on behalf of low-wage workers. She has also served as a hearing officer in over 30 administrative hearings, including garment industry license revocation hearings, talent agency controversies and public works debarment hearings.In 2004, Edna served as the appellate attorney in two published cases, Lujan v. Minagar (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 1040 and Williams v. FreedomCard, Inc. (2004) 123 Cal.App.4th 609, in which she also was the trial attorney. In Minagar, the court found a violation of Labor Code §6310, where an employee who had not made any complaint about workplace safety or health was discharged because of the employer's concern that she "would be the next one to file a complaint." Allowing "preemptive retaliation" would be at odds with §6310's apparent intent to encourage such complaints and to punish employers who retaliate against employees as a result. In FreedomCard, the court held that an employer has no standing to litigate the issue of whether it is a proper employer unless the bond or undertaking required by Labor Code §98.2(b) is posted. The court also noted in dicta that a corporation cannot be "indigent" for purposes of seeking relief from the bond requirement.Edna lives in Torrance with her husband, Dan and two children, Jack and Max. Jack is 5 years old and Max is 1 ½ years old.About Edna's experience in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic:
I credit my success as a trial and appellate attorney to the practical skills training I received as a student and Graduate Law Fellow at WERC under the direction of the clinic professors and supervising attorneys. | |
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| Joan Herrington, GGU Law '95, began her own employment law practice in 1997, which is now the Bay Area Employment Law Office in Oakland, CA (www.baelo.com). During law school, in addition to participating in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic, Joan was an Intern at the California Federation of Teachers; and a Judicial Extern for Judge Joan Wieder, National Labor Relations Board, Region 20. Joan earned a GGU Certificate of Specialization in Labor and Employment Law, and prior to beginning her own practice was an Associate at the Law Offices of Cary Silberman and Managing Attorney of the Alameda Disability Law Office. She is a member of the California Employment Lawyers Association, the Alameda Contra Costa Trial Attorneys' Association, and the Alameda County Bar Association. Before law school, Joan was the Executive Officer of New Zealand Post-Primary Teachers' Association - Aoraki Region. She earned her B.A. degree from the University of Auckland in 1974.About Joan's experience in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic:
My WERC experience confirmed my career choice and provided me with invaluable resources that I still use today. In the clinic, I represented an unemployment benefit applicant, drafted an article on an employee's inspection rights, and participated in a case brought under Cal/OSHA.
In my employment law practice, I still use a modified version of WERC's intake form, as well as other organizational techniques I learned at the clinic. One of my first cases as a lawyer involved both inspection rights and Cal/OSHA violations. During discovery, I knew from my WERC experience to demand production of the Material Safety Data Sheets (a complete mystery to most employment lawyers), which established the employer's knowledge that the airborne contaminants polluting the worksite were listed toxins. Establishing this fact helped me win the jury's sympathy, resulting in a unanimous verdict for my client, and a war chest for my next case.
One important aspect of employment law is that you never have to advertise for clients. There is more than enough work for everyone. The California Employment Lawyers Association (www.celaweb.org) provides invaluable mentoring and resources for employee-side lawyers, and experience as a WERC student gives you a great head-start in this vital and expanding area of law. | |
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| Roy Bennett, GGU Law '96, has worked since 1998 at Legal Advocates for Children & Youth (LACY), one of five programs of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. LACY provides legal representation for minors in a variety of civil matters (guardianship, family law, education, domestic violence, dependency).Initially, Roy was responsible for the Homeless and Runaway Youth project and the Education Law Project. During his first few years at LACY, he developed a significant special education practice. As a result of his work, LACY became part of the Educational Rights Project (ERP), a collaborative funded through the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. ERP is a unique program that works to ensure that dependents and wards of the Juvenile Court are enrolled in and attending school, and receiving appropriate educational services. Roy's clients are now primarily minors who are involved with the Juvenile Court.In addition to individual case work, Roy also serves on numerous committees consisting of representatives of schools, juvenile probation, child welfare, and the court. He is currently the co-chair of the Student Educational Needs Committee, a committee of the Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County.Roy graduated from Williams College with a degree in philosophy. Before discovering his true vocation in public interest law, Roy owned a record store in Palo Alto and worked in the restaurant business where he learned to enjoy wine that he can no longer afford.About Roy's experience in the Women's Employment Rights Clinic:
I very much enjoyed the time I spent in the Clinic. What was really important in my WERC experience was that it got me out of the classroom. I think my WERC experience, along with my judicial externship, are the things that prepared me for the actual practice of law. | |
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| Dianne Dobbs, GGU Law '01, is a staff counsel with the California Department of Consumer Affairs. In this role, she acts as in-house counsel for various state licensing boards, bureaus, and commissions. The position requires her to handle an exciting variety of legal issues in many areas of the law.Dianne has an M.B.A. and a B.A. from Holy Names University. She lives in Sacramento, and is active in several state and local bar associations.About Dianne's experience in WERC:
Some of my most memorable experiences at GGU were gained while working in the WERC. I enjoyed the direct client contact, the direct supervision from the professors, and learning from the various other field experts brought into the clinic as guest speakers. I am extremely proud to have been associated with the WERC because of the valuable service that the clinic continues to provide. | |
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